The Beginning of the End
by Utsukushii Kohana
Summary: No one ever said that saying goodbye was an easy thing to do.


**The Beginning of the End**

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**No one ever said that saying goodbye was an easy thing to do. Oneshot.

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**He never thought this day would have come.

He frowned, wrinkling his brow in deep thought and pressing his lips in a thin line as he was standing at the railing of the moving ship. He was leaning over the metal structure slightly with the upper half of his body to observe intently how the strong, blue mingled with white waves were lapping against the bottom of the enormous, ebony black, metal ship. He was enjoying the sight very much; it soothed him—even if it was just for a little bit, he could use all the comfort that he could grasp on right now.

Suddenly, soft footsteps echoed on the metal floor, dawning closer by the minute since it was clear that the newcomer was heading towards him. The '_thudding_' sound of the echoes was eerie, it felt like they were following the nervous rhythm of his rapid heartbeat. Even with the frightening tension that the echoes brought with them, he felt relief wash over him as he recognized them. He didn't need to look up to know who was approaching.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" he asked with a slightly hoarse voice, still looking with vacant eyes at the water instead of her.

Slowly, she ambled over the railing herself and scooted next to him. Contrary to him, she wasn't interested in the steady beat of the waves—which was rather ironic since water was her element and for which she earned the title of master—and she placed her back against the ice-cold structure, and rested her elbows on it. She closed her ocean-blue eyes and eagerly inhaled the healthy, fresh sea air.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding simply and a smidge of sadness hinting in her voice. "That's why I'm here right now, sleep walking."

"Me neither."

"I have noticed," she said dully, softly sweeping her foot to and fro across the metal floor.

He rubbed his face harshly with the palm of his hands, ending with his chin cupped between them and placing both elbows on the railing for support. He kept staring emotionless at the wild sea, the waves pushing and pulling, and the bright sparkles were glittering in the dark water, which contrasted beautifully together. The wind picked up, blowing bitterly cold against them—but they didn't seem to mind one bit, they just stayed quiet, each staring at their respectful interest (one the sea and one her feet).

Silence had descended upon them, which made the scenery very awkward, because they were normally so comfortable around each other. Their acquaintance was set up by destiny, they were meant to cross each other's paths to help each other out, and during their journey to their goals their remarkable and unforgettable acquaintance had grown into friendship, and a little while later their friendship had bloomed into something bigger… they had become soul mates. They could talk about anything, they even shared their worst nightmares and fears, their most remember-able dreams and hopes, they could get it off their chests without being judged by the other. Or there were times that they didn't want to discuss it and then a simple gesture—mostly hugs—was their way of speaking, to show the other support.

The young boy heaved a loud, shagged sigh. "I'm scared," he whispered, barely audible but she caught the words, shivering to show his inner fear. "Agni, we've been preparing for this day for so long—all the trainings, mastering elements, gathering armies. And now—when the moment is finally arriving—I realise—I'm afraid."

His eyes were beginning to cloud over, but he bit his trembling lower lip, because he couldn't break down now. He had to be there for the world, for his friends… and for her.

"It's perfectly normal that you're frightened," she reassured, soothingly. As she glanced at him, she put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but she felt his shoulders tense up at her touch and she, reluctantly though, retracted her hand within the fraction of a second. She averted her eyes to the other side as she continued her little supporting speech. "I'm frightened too—we all are," she said, forcing a smile to appear on her lips as she looked back at him. It was difficult to smile on this ominous day.

He still didn't look up at her, but he somehow knew she was forcing a smile and that was why he hesitantly returned it. "Yeah, well, Sokka and Iroh sure have a good way of not showing it. They're both still asleep, snoring like a boar."

Now a sincere smile was painted on her lips and she rolled her eyes sarcastically at the vision of Iroh and Sokka still sleeping in their cots, probably with their mouths hanging open and a trail of drool in a corner, and one leg falling out of the bed. She chuckled. "Wish I could say the same for Toph. She's probably puking her dinner out at the other side of the ship as we speak."

"Still seasick, is she?"

"Yes, she's been complaining the entire night—actually the entire time we've been on this ship—about how much she detests the sea and how much she misses _true_ solid ground below her bare feet. And not this want-to-be-earth-metal crap, as she called it," she told, a wry smirk twisted on her delicate features.

"I guess she will be the only one who's going to be glad when we get to shore," Aang quipped, a smidge of amusement leaking in his voice.

The brown-headed girl giggled softly, glad that her friend was returning slowly but steadily to his regular cheery self. "I guess so."

Then once again there was a tiny pause, enlarging the tension that hung in the air ominously. They both stayed quiet, looking at the distance… and feeling how the end of the calming moment they shared now was nearing.

"How is Zuko doing? Also sleeping?" she asked suddenly, not feeling comfortable with the silence.

The boy smirked. "You know him—woken up early in the morning like he usually does," he paused, chuckling. "He was actually surprised by the fact that I had woken up at the same time as he." He straightened his back, blowing out on his hands to warm them up. At times like these he was glad that Iroh had convinced him that there's nothing to be afraid of to learn firebending—it was quite handy on cold and dark days. "In fact, he's at the other side of the ship, thinking about what's going to happen when we get there."

She pursed her lips together, frowning pensively. "This must be tougher on him than any of us. I would never be able to confront my own father and sister like he has to," she stated, sympathizing with the exiled Fire Nation Prince.

"I can't imagine what he's going through right now," he replied, voice pained.

"Me neither. I mean, I lost my mother because of this stupid war, but at least I found my father again. I also had my brother and Gran-Gran to support me and care for me. He, on the other hand, doesn't have a family except for his uncle. He lost his mother when he was young and never reacquainted with her. As for his father and sister, they never loved him, they only love power and themselves. His own father banished him and burned him a huge scar for life. And now, he has to confront them, his fears and the turmoil he has been carrying in his head for so long."

"Maybe you should be there for him instead of me."

"What?!" she exclaimed, incredulously. "Aang, what are you talking about?" she questioned, taken aback by his sudden statement.

"Well, he's having more trouble with this than me. And out of the entire group he seems to trust you the most and even care for you the most. Perhaps you should give him some encouragement," the young monk explained, his heart aching when he heard himself saying those words.

"No," she insisted, confidently, staring harshly in front of her. "He needs to be on his own. He needs to reflect on things alone."

The Avatar only nodded as response, understanding completely.

The she turned around so that she faced the water too, gently she knotted her slender fingers through his pale ones and she added, her eyes glittering. "Besides, I want to be with you for the time being."

His heart leapt, skipping a few beats as a huge toothy smile crept on his features when he heard her saying those words. He could have jumped twenty metres in the air from joy, if only she wasn't holding his hand and was keeping him close to her. It meant the world to him that she rather spent this last moment before the final battle with him than with Zuko. He had always loved since the very beginning he laid eyes on her when she helped him out of the iceberg. Every single time he wanted her to look at him, to gain her attention, to embrace her tightly, her to kiss of tenderly on the cheek, even if it was briefly—it was enough for him. She was his best friend, his soul mate, his confidant and so much more—she was the only person keeping him sane and attached to the Earth. He loved her with all his heart, but the only problem was that he never acted on his strong feelings for her. He was too shy and too scared that she wouldn't love him in the same way he loved her.

But he decided that now was the best time to tell her. Who knew what would happen after the battle with the Fire Nation and Fire Lord Ozai and Fire Princess Azula? Anything could happen—there was a big chance he may _never_ see her again.

A cold, eerie shiver ran down his spine and he cringed visibly, while his eyes clouded over sadly. He didn't want to think about the worst case scenarios right now, but there was no use in covering up what could be true. He should—no, he _must_ confess what he truly felt about her… and he was going to do it right now.

"Katara," he addressed her, whispering, shyness coming to the surface of his voice once again. Just like all those other times he wanted to confess his love for her.

"Yes, Aang."

"I—I want—," he sputtered out, timidly. "I—,"

"Yes—," she prodded, cocking her head to the side curiously what he was going to say next.

"N—Nothing," he answered, shutting his mouth embarrassed, wishing she wouldn't notice the huge red blushes on his cheeks.

He chickened out again.

Again and again, he chickened out.

For Agni's sake, he was the Avatar! Not that he didn't want to brag with that, but he was the most powerful being on Earth. He was able to control the four elements at the same time, he was able to go to the Spirit World and he was able to go into the Avatar State and become even mightier. So why wasn't he able to reveal his true feelings for the waterbending master next to him, when he was able to do all those other stuff that no other was able to do?

The answer was simple; because he was a coward.

Katara snorted, while scrunching up her nose a tad. "Come on, Aang. You can't fool me after all this time, I know you better than you think and I know that's something is bothering that bald head of yours," she kidded playfully, while poking him on the arm to urge him. "Now, care to tell what the problem is?"

He remained silent, not laughing at her little joke and had a stone face. "No, it's nothing."

Finally, he averted his grey orbs to look directly at Katara and observed that she was genuinely concerned about him, because she had that sad glint in her glittering ocean-blue eyes and her lips was pursed into that cute, little pout of hers that he just couldn't resist. She had this power over him, such great power that she didn't even know she possessed and it was all because he fell in love with her so hard when he met her.

He hated—yet loved—_that_ look on her face and he lifted his hands up to surrender to her piercing stare. "It's nothing, I swear, it's just some Avatar stuff," he quickly made up, though he had never been a good liar because he was chuckling nervously and shaking a bit. "So you don't have to worry."

"Oh, okay then," she said, her voice pained because she wasn't convinced by his little lie, not even the slightest. She had been around him long enough to know him inside and outside, and she knew that he was lying to her. But she decided for the best that if Aang didn't want to talk about it and hide it from her, even when she hated that he _wanted_ to hide anything from her, she shouldn't pressure him in telling her. It wasn't like he had enough pressure on him as it was. The final battle was about to begin in an hour or so and he was the one who had to face Fire Lord Ozai and bring him down and restore peace on Earth. So yeah, she decided she should spare him a little drama.

She knew how much weight that could be on your shoulders. Knowing that most of this depended on you, must totally affect your nerves in an awful way.

But at least he brought hope for everyone else, for the entire world.

But he brought some other concept in her life too.

She decided to take manners in her own hands and confess what kind of feelings she had been harbouring for him for quite a long time now. "Aang," she addressed him, with a quiet and shaking voice. "I want to tell you something. Something really important that has been bugging me for quite a while now," she started nervously, fumbling with the end of her perfectly made braid. "I want you to know that I—,"

But she was interrupted by a newly voice from around the corner, a young male voice who was apparently yelling at someone else there.

"TOPH! Haven't you learned by now; NEVER wake ME up in the middle of a goodnight sleep!"

Katara and Aang recognized Sokka's voice in an instant and they discovered he was shouting at Toph. Their conversation gained their attention and Katara and Aang both slowly and quietly stepped to them, but stayed behind the corner so that the quibblers wouldn't see them.

The Blind Bandit rolled her sea foam green eyes sarcastically, and shrugged nonchalantly. "Aw come on, Snoozles. You don't need a beauty sleep, you'll _never_ get pretty," she quipped. "Just give it up."

Sokka clenched his hands roughly at his sides, and started fuming. His face turned red, there was steam coming out of his ears and he frowned angrily. "WHAT?! You—You—Brat, don't you dare rum away from me! Come here and fight me!" he screamed at her retreating form, but when she turned around to face him with a sceptically raised eyebrow, his tensed shoulders sagged down and he smiled sheepishly. "Without you bending, of course," he quickly added.

She snorted. "Aren't _I_ supposed to be the blind one?" she asked sarcastically, shaking her head disbelievingly at him. "There's no earth around us, dumb-dumb. Besides, I wasn't planning on running away like a coward from you," she smirked smugly and whispered. "Pony-Tail."

Sokka pursed his lips in an angry pout. "Stop calling me by those nicknames!" he snarled, fuming again. "Why don't you go and throw up some more?!"

"I'm feeling better now, thank you very much," she answered, with a dull tone. "And I thought you liked it when I gave you those special nicknames, but if you don't I'll stop right away, _Sokka_."

Sokka opened his mouth to thunder some retort back at her, but when he heard her saying his name, he closed his gaping mouth and smiled so happily that it reached his sparkling sea blue eyes. "You called me Sokka?" he rhetorically asked, still not believing what he just heard.

"Of course I did. If that's what you want, then that's what you'll receive."

He hugged her very tightly. "You do care for me!"

She giggled while she tenderly patted his back. "I care about you a lot more then you think."

"I care about you too, Toph."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she muttered, putting up her tough act again. She gently pushed him off her and smirked deviously. "Now let's wake up Iroh!"

He smirked back, nodded and off they went.

Bewildered, Katara clapped a hand in front of her mouth to prevent the laughing that was a bout to come—she giggled instead at the recent conversation. Aang, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh and had already an arm circled around his stomach.

"Can you believe that?" she asked appalled between giggles. "Sokka and Toph, who would have known?"

Aang's laughter died rapidly and he wiped a tear away from his eye with his finger. "I thought he was interested in Suki," he said, trying to sound serious, but it came out with an amused chuckle.

"Me too," Katara replied.

Aang bobbed his head, emphasizing his agreement, and then scraped his throat to get her attention, looking serious again. "You were trying to say something before," he reminded her, curious to what she had to say.

"Oh that," she whispered, her cheeks flushing and began playing with her braid again timidly. "It was—Just that—Oh, never mind, it's nothing important."

He widened his eyes at her odd behaviour and stared at her with his mouth gaping. "But you said it _was_ important. Then you can't—,"

However, he was cut shortly by Katara as she pointed a finger to the horizon. "Look, Aang," she said, directing his attention to the rising sun, so that he would forget about the previous because she didn't have the guts to say what she wanted to say anymore. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, changing the subject drastically and desperately.

He cast his gaze at it and saw that she was right. It was indeed beautifully amazing—it was a true wonder, because he never know how a sight could be so captivating. At the distant horizon it was dark red, surrounded by splashes of oranges and different shades of yellow, and mildly mixed with the colours purple and blue. Then there was this half circle of carmine red appearing from the still, sparkling water.

He smiled, distractedly. "Yes, it is," he muttered, sighing dreamily and then he built up so much courage inside his stomach to say the next few words. "But not as beautiful as you."

"What?" she inquired bewildered, her ocean-blue eyes wide with surprise.

He grabbed her hand and covered it with both his hands, and then squeezed it gently. "Katara, I need to tell you this. And I want you to listen to me till the very end," he spoke to her with such a serious tone, which told her that he had something really important to say. She knew him all too well; always trying to be as optimistic as possible and trying to be as goofy as possible to make the harsh and tough world a little more easier to bear. Thus she was curious at what he had to say, especially because he was so serious now, so she bobbed her head lightly to confirm that she would listen intently.

That was his cue to proceed his confession and he inhaled deeply before he started talking again. "I'm just going to come right out and spill it—I love you, Katara. I always have and I always will. Since the very moment I woke up in your arms I knew I would fall for your charm and I did eventually. Well, actually very fast. I'm an idiot for not mentioning this sooner but I was too scared of how you were going to react on this." He paused, biting his lower lip, blushing immensely and staring at the ground awkwardly. Then he looked up to her, his round grey eyes filled with love and courage. "But now, I'm not afraid anymore. You deserve to know the truth. And the truth is I love you with all my heart."

"Oh," she mouthed, astonished about everything he just admitted to her.

"I completely understand if you want to stay friends. But I just wanted to get this weight off my shoulders. Especially, because maybe after this, I may never get another opportunity to see you again. You know, I'm scared to death about that. I don't want to lose you, Katara. I won't be able to survive without you by my side, even if it's just as a friend," he quickly blabbered out, crestfallen at her silent reaction.

Suddenly, he felt her lips crash down on his, she held his face with both her hands on his cheeks and he was startled at first by her impulsive action, but then realizing what was happening, he wrapped his arms around her slim waist and pulled her a bit closer to him. The kiss itself was a small, yet very meaningful kiss—it was that kind of kiss that said more than a thousand words could do.

When she retreated her lips, reluctantly though, the warm and soft feeling kept lingering on both their mouths. They smiled tenderly at each other, with their eyes glittering and the rising sun reflecting brightly on them.

Katara cocked her head a tad to the side, cutely and stroking Aang's cheek with the back of her hand soothingly. "I love you too. Always have and always will."

Aang's face bright up immediately and his notorious toothy smile reappeared on his lips. His heartbeat rapidly increased with joy and he jumped right on her, and the two shared (once again) a big bear-hug.

Their little moment was interrupted by Zuko, who stepped towards them. He looked directly at them with his stone face, anxiety written all over it, though. His black ebony hair whipped along with the soft breeze that picked up and covered his burnt scar for most part. "Aang, Katara, we've almost arrived at the Fire Nation territory. I'll wake up and round up the others," he announced promptly and left their sight in a blink.

They broke the hug, but still held hands.

Aang hung his head down, not daring to look at her anymore. "I guess this is it, huh?"

"Yeah," she remanded, the sadness reappearing in her voice once more.

"I suppose we should prepare ourselves." He softly yanked his hands out of her grip and whirled around to head to his cabin.

"Wait," she exclaimed, stretching out her hand to get a new grip on his shoulder this time. "For what it's worth, you're not going to lose me. I'll always be your best friend and so much more. And I–…"

"Don't do this, Katara."

"Do what?"

"_This_, saying goodbye to each other. It's too difficult."

She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "No one ever said saying goodbye was an easy thing to do." She took a step closer to him, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. "But sometimes it's a necessary thing to do."

He drooped his eye-lids, his shoulders sagging and a shagged sigh escaping his parted lips defeatedly.

"Aang, no matter what, you'll never lose me. Even if we don't make it after this, we'll still have our memories and our love to guide us. We'll always remember each other in our hearts. Nothing can break us apart, our love is unbreakable."

He gazed at her, grey eyes clashing blue, and he took a step towards her too, with a sly smile plastered on his face. "I know," he mumbled. "You'll never lose me either."

Once again, she kissed him on the lips tenderly before saying. "Goodbye, Aang."

"No, this isn't a goodbye. It will never be a '_goodbye_' between us."

She didn't understand what he was telling her and she frowned her eyebrows ignorantly at him, indicating that she wanted him to explain that to her.

"Like you said, we'll never lose each other no matter what." Aang smiled genuinely, his light grey eyes sparkling with happiness. "This may be the beginning of the end, but it will _never_ be a final goodbye."

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